By SCOTT SONNER | The Associated Press
RENO, Nevada – For nearly three decades he was only known as Sand Canyon Joe Doe, the apparent victim of a homicide found in the high desert of northern Nevada.
Now, due to clues developed with DNA technology, genetic genealogy tracing, and old-fashioned detective work, the original Californian who also lived in western Nevada has a real name. , and state and county investigators are trying to relaunch their search for her killer. .
Born in Sacramento, Vincent Marion Trapp served in the United States Army in the late 1960s and was 43 when investigators believe he was killed in the spring or summer of 1991.
His skeletal remains were discovered in March 1992 after an anonymous report led sheriff’s deputies to Sand Canyon, about 100 miles southeast of Reno and 40 miles south of Yerington.
The Lyon County Sheriff made his photo public this week and launched a new plea for advice.
“We’ve reached the point where we need a little more help,” said Lt. Jerry Pattison, who works in the agency’s major crimes division.
Pattison said in an interview on Wednesday that he was listening to a crime podcast about advancements in technology combining DNA science and genealogical data a few years ago, and decided it was worth it. obtain the approval of a contract with a laboratory specializing in the work.
Last year, detectives began working with Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot of Virginia to narrow down the victim’s list of potential family members using genetic matches from a database called GEDmatch.
This is the same database the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office used two years ago to ultimately identify a woman whose body was found in 1982 on a trail in Lake Tahoe, and ultimately the man who , according to them, killed her.
They closed this cold case, determining that Mary Silvani was killed by James Richard Curry. He served time for theft in California before confessing to one murder in Santa Clara in 1982 and two murders in the San Jose area in 1983. Curry committed suicide in prison before being tried.
Lyon County detectives said Wednesday that new information about the Trapp case prompted them to travel to two states to interview “people of interest.” They were able to establish a rudimentary chronology of Trapp’s whereabouts until his death.
Pattison noted that he could not disclose any name or location, but said they had started talking to relatives and collecting DNA from a sibling.
“This is how we were able to confirm that he was the victim,” he said. “It’s really fascinating.”
Detectives in 2015 performed isotope tests on the victim’s hair, which may indicate where someone was living based on the minerals found in a particular area, Pattison said. But in this case, the long list of possibilities spanned from California to the Pacific Northwest, the West Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
“It was like everywhere west of the Mississippi. So the isotopes didn’t really help us, ”Pattison said.
Detectives still don’t know the exact date Trapp moved to Nevada. But they established that he lived in Topaz Ranch Estates in Douglas County from the end of 1989 to the fall of 1990, and in Yerington in the spring of 1991, Pattison said.
Other previously disclosed clues included a dog pictured during the alleged murder window of time in the area where Trapp’s body was found. A broken dog collar was found nearby.
“We hope someone will call with new information,” he said.
Pattison said to call him (775-577-5206), Nevada Division investigative officer Matthew Wehn (775-684-7412) or a secret witness (775-322-4900).